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Friday, June 10, 2005

'Into the West' manifests itself as shallow 'Roots'

By MELANIE McFARLAND
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER TELEVISION CRITIC

Figuring out which way TNT's "Into the West" is heading at any given moment
literally takes a chart. Those of us reviewing the first six of the
miniseries' 12 hours received a chart of two family trees, one for the
series' Lakota tribe and one for the Wheeler family, white settlers. There
are many in each, so it paid to keep the sheet handy.

While this speaks to the intricacy of executive producer Steven
Spielberg/DreamWorks Television's six-week Manifest Destiny saga, it also
displays the overambition that hurts the series. Most viewers don't have
such an aid, but each two-hour installment premieres Fridays at 8 and
repeats at the same time Saturdays and Sundays (except for Independence Day
weekend) throughout the event's run. Repetition, we hear, is the key to
comprehension.

But this is television, not a classroom. If you need visual aids to figure
out who's who only a few hours into a television series, it may not be
worth watching again (and again).

Before getting into what "Into the West" ultimately is, we should consider
what it purports to be. Encompassing the years between 1825 and 1890, the
series shows the white American push westward, and the ensuing clash with
Native Americans, through the eyes of handsome families on each side.

That makes it unique. Native peoples rarely have their say in settler tales
romanticized in film and on television. "Into the West" is supposed to give
them that voice, even to the extent that it was being sold as a
long-overdue "Roots" for westward expansion.

Not only would it celebrate the adventurous spirit of the Wheelers,
wheelwrights from Virginia, but we'd see the impact of wagon trains and
warfare upon the Indian nations, and the children of Good Shield and White
Eyes Woman.

Overshadowing all of this, however, is Spielberg's influence on the series,
and his directors' and scribes' definition of what balance and fair
portrayal of Native Americans entails.

The "other" side of the story is the struggle to maintain the Lakota way,
something never stated in concrete terms, but which we're meant to take as
clinging to spirituality and arrows, limiting exposure to the white man's
rifles and wagons. When they trade with whites, it usually leads to
terrible things.

This brand of New Age, "Dances With Wolves" hooey is merely a different
shirt on the "noble savage" stereotype. And there's enough of it present in
"Into the West" to make a conscientious person squeamish. The writers and
directors must have felt it as well, which is why the Lakota characters
lack dimension, emotional range and receive less screen time in episodes
two and three.

To be fair, no actor's going to be up for an Emmy with this series, but in
comparison to their Lakota counterparts, the only information left out
about the nice, open- minded Wheelers is their shoe sizes. If you want
proof of how impossible it would be to get "Roots" on TV today in all its
unblinking power and horror, just take in this 12 hours. (By the way,
caution: spoilers ahead.)

Tonight's episode, "Wheel to the Stars," is the most equitable of the first
three installments. We meet the Lakota tribe, headed in part by two warrior
brothers, the peace-loving Dog Star (Michael Spears) and hot-headed Running
Fox (Zahn McClarnon). Another brother, Loved by the Buffalo (played by
Simon R. Baker on night one), has visions leading him on the medicine man
path. Thunder Heart Woman (Tonantzin Carmelo) is a beauty married off to a
trapper to ensure an alliance.

Circumstances bring Thunder Heart Woman to Jacob Wheeler (Matthew Settle),
who was too much of a dreamer to make wheels, and who headed west with a
mountain man named Fletcher (Will Patton) to seek his destiny.

This is a solid start, as Jacob finds his testosterone in the wilderness
and Loved by the Buffalo has a premonition that the buffalo herds
sustaining the Lakota will disappear into the earth. The two meet; Jacob
feels he knows Loved by the Buffalo in some way he can't quite fathom, and
the Lakota family accepts Jacob with a loving nature his blood relatives do
not possess.

So, what does Mr. Wheeler do at the beginning of the second episode? Takes
woman and children back to his cold Virginia relatives -- for no good
reason other than to lure more wide-eyed kin out West, including brother
Jethro (Skeet Ulrich) and cousin Naomi (Keri Russell).

This is where "Into the West" skitters off in too many directions. Future
episodes tag along as Jacob and Thunder Heart Woman's children (played by
Christian Kane, Tyler Christopher and Irene Bedard) and more Wheeler
cousins (Rachael Leigh Cook, among them) throw in with the Civil War, the
Gold Rush, the construction of the transcontinental railroad and the Battle
of the Little Bighorn.

Russell's is the most useless character, as Naomi gets kidnapped (of
course!) by the hottest Cheyenne to ever roam the plains. She romances him
with nursery rhymes he does not understand, pushes out a baby and
disappears from the tale. Why bother?

There's a weird pattern weaving through the series: The Wheelers wrestle
with progress, while Running Fox and Dog Star bear witness as the
government tries to eradicate tribal traditions through forced education,
miners attempt to strip the Black Hills of gold and, at last, soldiers
slaughter Native Americans at Wounded Knee.

We get to know the Wheeler sons, daughters and cousins and their wide range
of emotions, while the children and wives of Running Fox and Dog Star are
almost completely anonymous. History just sort of happens to the Indians in
"Into the West." As Loved by the Buffalo's vision come to pass, he does
nothing but wander the wilderness, looking very solemn.

The story by William Mastrosimone, and scripts written by him, Kirk Ellis,
Craig Storper and Cyrus Nowrasteh, are probably more to blame than
Spielberg's influence, although anyone who remembers how he fouled up
"Amistad" may beg to differ.

But the sad fact is, the same viewers who were bowled over by romance novel
Westerns such as "Lonesome Dove" probably won't care that the makers of
"Into the West" had an amazing opportunity here -- and fumbled.

P-I TV critic Melanie McFarland can be reached at 206-448-8015 or
tvgal@....